Coveney defends Government handling of horse meat scandal

House of Commons inquiry critical of response to false labelling scandal

Minister for Agriculture and Food Simon Coveney: “We acted quickly and swiftly and with absolute priority to get to the bottom of the horsemeat crisis which became a European crisis very, very quickly.” Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Mr Coveney said the State is pursuing one prosecution “in relation to one company that we know deliberately put false labels on product”.

He said the Government has been taking legal advice as to how to secure that prosecution. “I’ve made it very clear that I want to secure prosecutions but I’m not going to go to court unless I know I can win,” he added. “It takes time to put a case together to make sure you win but I can assure you it is not because of a lack of effort and if we can secure a prosecution we will do that.”